Starter mechanism



Nov. 27, 1934. R. M. NARDoNE I1,982,173

STARTER MEGHANISM Filed June 4, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 is, v l n nbentor Gttomeg j N0V 27,1934- R. M. NARDONE STARTER MEc'HANIsu 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June ef1, 1930l Romeo M. Nardone. Z4/Z4 Gttorneg Patented Nov. 27, 1934 PAIENT OFFICE 1,982,173 STARTER MECHANISM Romeo Nardone, East Orange, N. J., assignor to Echpse Aviation Corporation, East Orange, `N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 4, 1930, Serial No. 459,196 10 Claims. (Cl. 12S-179) This invention relates to mechanism for use in starting internal combustion engines.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel engine starting mechanism including ignition current supply means.

Another object is to providenovel engine starting apparatus including' ignition current supply means and a common driving means for actuating both the starter and currentsupply means.

Another object is driving means for rotating an engine crank shaft in one direction and yieldingly resisting its rotation in the opposite direction.

Another object is to provide an engine starter having a novel yielding driving means for Apreventing excessive stress and breakage of parts of the starter and cooperating means preventing opposite rotation of the starter drive.

Another object is to provide a combination of an engine starter and a current supply means, a

novel means associated therewith for governing' the current supply of the supply means in accordance with the position of the crank shaft of an engine to be started.

Another object is to provide a novel means for controlling the current supply of a magneto including a means for protecting the magneto winding from excess Voltage.

One embodiment of the present invention is n illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference charactersrefer tolike parts throughout the several views. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration'only, and are not designed as a denition'of the limits of the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the engine starter and current supply means partly in section;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the driving means embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view of an automatic switch embodying the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram of the current supply distributing system. v

Referring to Fig. 1, an engine casing 1 has removably attached thereto a casing 2 by any suitable means such as bolts (not shown) for housing an engine flywheel 6 and partially supporting a starter driving mechanism. A casing 3 is removably attached to casing 2 by any suitable means such as screws (not shown) and forms a chamber in which part of the engine starter driving mechanism is contained. Casing 4 is comto provide a novel starterv vthe member 12 and casing plemental to casing 2 for further supporting the engine starter driving mechanism and is so made for facilitating assembly of parts. The engine crank shaft 5 and flywheel 6 are completely housed by the casings 1 and 2.

The starter mechanism comprises a shaft 7 extending exteriorly of the casing 3-through an aperture therein and has a pin 8 extending therethrough for the purpose of attaching a hand crank (not shown). This shaft '7 extends into 65 the chamber formed by the casing 3 and is rigidly attached or formed integrally with the end plate of a barrel member 9 which is free to rotate in the casing 3 as shown at 10. Attached to the end plate of this barrel member 9 by means of 70 rivets 18 is a ring-shaped member 11 having ratchet teeth formed thereon. Complemental to the ratchet member 11 is a ratchet member 12 splined to an intermediate member l5 as shown at 14 for permitting longitudinal movement there- 75 between. The member 15 is rigidly attached to the casing 3 for preventing relative rotation of 3. A Spring 17 is positioned between an abutment on the member 12 and the casing 3. This spring at all times tends s0 to force-the ratchet teeth 13 of member 12 into engagement with the complemental ratchet teeth of member 11. A

A friction clutch is provided between the cranking member and the other parts of the driving g5 mechanism. On the interior of the side walls of the barrel member 9 there are a series of' longitudinal splines or ribs 19. Within the barrel are a series of friction discs or plates of the same conl tour as the barrel. Half of these discs in alternate manner are held rigid with the barrel member by means of extensions fitting between the ribs on the internal wall of the barrel member. These friction discs are mounted on a spacer member 21 which has an aperture in its center. 95 These friction discs are also apertured at 'their center and those alternate discs not held rigid with the barrel member have extensions which fit into depressions between ribs 23 on a member 22. An end plate 24 fits over the open end of the 100 barrel 9 bearing upon the friction discs and which also has an offset flange surrounding the open end of the barrel. The plate 24 is held in position by means of studs 25 having their heads in engagement with the flange. and passing through apertures 26 in the barrel end walls 27. An'annular recess is cut in the walls' of the barrel member 9 forming a second wall 28. Between these two walls they stud member 25 extends and is surrounded by a spring 29 which abuts against the 110 its other end 'by a nut 30 which is screwed onto the stud. By this means the pressure to be applied on the discs by the plate 24 may be adjusted by adjusting the spring pressure between the nut 30 and the interior of the recess formed between the walls 27 and 28. The member 22 comprises in an integral structure, a flange 31 seated on the member 24 and having a depending part with ribs 23 extending into the apertures of the friction discs, and on the opposite side of the 'flange having a hollow cylindrical part 32 with internal ribs or splines 33. The casing 4 forms abushing 34 in which the hollow cylindrical member 32 may rotate.

An intermediate member 35 consists off a shaft which at one end has splined projections or ribs adapted to mesh with the splines 33 of the clutch -member 22 and at its other end, formed integrally therewith, is a ratchet member 37. Surrounding the intermediate portion of the shaft is a resilient split ring 39, held on the shaft bythe friction between the ring and the shaft. The

ends 40 ofthe split ring 39 are at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the ring and when on the shaft are spaced apart forming a cam slot. A projection 41 on the casing 3 ts within this cam slot and forms an abutment. As the shaft 35 is free to move longitudinally but fixed rotationally as regard to member 32, the shaft member 35 will tend to move out of the vmember 32 when rotated, due to the projection 41 in the cam slot. However, as this ring 39 is held on the shaft only by friction it will slip when sufficient force is applied by the projection.

vThe driving member comprises a shaft 43y having a ratchet member 44 formed integrally therewith at one end for engaging the corresponding ratchet member 37. On the other end of the shaft 43 and formed integrally therewith is a beveled gear 46 always in mesh with a beveled gear 47 held on the end of the crank shaft 5 by threaded means 4 8 on the end of the crank shaft.

' The driving member is held rigid longitudinally and isin mesh always with gear 47but`is free to rotate in the bearing 50 formed bythe casing.

A booster magneto 51 is attached to casing 3 in any suitable manner such as bolts (not shown) and comprises an armature shaft 52 and a magnet 53, which is the usual construction. ,'An adjustable coupling 54 .having slots into which lugs 55 on the armature shaft 52 extend, is journaled in the casing at 57 and 58. On the opposite end of this coupling from the magneto armature shaft is xed a pinion 561which meshes with a spur gear 59 formed integral with the barrel member 9. As will be readily apparent the booster magneto armature will rotate when the crank member 7 is rotated.

Referring now to the schematic diagram of the f magneto distribution system (see Fig. 5), 60 represents the primary winding of the magneto and 61 the secondary winding which by means of leads 62, 63, and 64 are connected to a common ground terminal 65. The other end of the primary Winding through leads 66 and 67 is connected to an automatic periodic circuit breaker 68 which varies the magnetic iiux in the primary winding 60. The other terminals of the breaker, of course, are connected to the ground. A condenser 84 is connected across the Acontacts of. the periodic breaker 63 to prevent arcing. The breaker 68 is operated by the magneto armature shaft. In circuit with this first periodic breaker is a second periodic breaker 70 comprising a contact element 71 connected with the primary 'winding by means of leads 69 and a segmental contact 72 having an arc of 180 degrees. During that time when the contact arm 71 is in contact with the segmental contact 72 the primary winding will be grounded on the ground terminal 73. The contact arm 71 is connected rigidly with and driven by the engine crank shaft and is for the purpose of preventing any current in the magneto being generated except whenl the piston of the internal combustion' engine is beyond dead center. The secondary winding 61 is connected by means of leads 74 with a terminal contact 75 of a circuit breaker'77. Circuit breaker 77 is adapted to open the circuit between contacts 75 and 76. Lead 78 from the contact 76 connects with the center terminal of a spark plug 80. The other terminal 81 of the spark plug is connected to a ground One point of spark gap 82 is connected to the lead 74 and its other point to aground terminal 83. ,When the magneto armature` shaft is rotated and the contact arm 71 is in contact with the segmental contact 72 there is no ilux change in the primary winding 60 and therefore no current is induced in the secondary winding 61. However, when the contact arm 71 is not in contact with thel segmental contact 72 the periodic breaker 68 intermittently varies the flux of the primary winding 60 and intermittently the current is induced in the secondary coll 61. The circuit breaker 77 in series with the secondary winding controls the time at which the induced current is delivered to the spark plug terminal 80. l To prevent damage to the primary and secondary winding when current is induced into secondary winding 61, when the circuit breaker 77 is open and the voltage becomes excessively high the voltage will jump across the gap 82 to ground.

The automatic periodic switch for governing the electric magneto output is shown in Fig. 1 at 70. 'This switch comprises a spool member 86 which is rigidly connected with the engine crank shaft by means of the nut 48 which also holds the gear 47 rigidly inplace. The spool 86 carries the contact arm 7"-1, one end of which is constantly held in contact with the terminal contact 88 con- 88 and the segmental contact 72 around which the yother end of the contact arm 71 is-engaged are xed on a housing member 90 which surrounds the end of the spool member 86. The position of the housing member 90 and the. segmental contact 72 may be adjusted by rotation relative to the spool. An arcuate slot '91 isi-formed in this housing member through which the bolt 92 passes and which may be tightened up to rigidly hold the housing member 90 in adjusted position by means of a nut 93;

'I'he operation is as follows: A hand crank is attached to the member 8 and shaft 7 is rotated in clockwise direction. The barrel member 9, being rigid therewith, rotates in the same direction and the ratchet teeth 11i-will slip by the ratchet teethi213 on the rigid abutment member forcing of the clutch rigid with the spline 23 of the member` 22 will be rotated in the same direction as a :,esaivs unit so long as the resistance of the member 22 is not too great. The' member 22 will ofcourse also be rotated in a clockwise direction, and

l through the hollow cylindrical part 32 and the rotates the split ring 39 having .the cam slot 4o,

which cooperates with the abutment 41 to advance the member 35 longitudinally for engaging the ratchet members 37 and 45, after which time the split ring will then slip allowing the intermediate member to rotate relative thereto. 'Ihe rotation of the hand crank is then being delivered to the crank shaft 5 and the booster magneto simultaneously. The control switch 77 may then be closed to supply current to the terminal 80. After the piston has passed dead center the grounding switch isopened and the magneto willthen supply current for starting the engine. If by chance the engine should backfire, this reverse motion will not be transmitted back to the hand crank as the spring 17 will maintain the non-rotatable ratchet member 12 and corresponding ratchet member 11 in contact position. There may be a slight relative movement between the alternate friction discs of the clutch, but the friction therebetween will operate to absorb the torsional strain.

Power means, such as an electric motor may be employed to actuate the cranking shaft and energize the flywheel if desired.

There is thus provided a novel starting mechanism and a current supply means having a common driving means so constituted as to prevent its rotation in a reverse direction, thereby eliminating the hazard to which an operator is subjected when an engine backfires in the course of starting `such engine, also novel means actuated by the driving means for deliveringv the current output of the current supply means to the engine to be started at such intervals as to prevent backiiring of the engine.

While only on'e embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto since it will now be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the invention defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In an engine starting mechanism, an engine crank shaft, a driven member in driving relation t'o the crank shaft at one end, a cranking member, and an intermediate member splined to the cranking member for longitudinal movement but normally disengaged from the other end of the driven member, a cam slot adjacent the intermediate member and an abutment in the cam slot adapted upon rotational movement of the intermediate member to move the latter longitudinally into engagement with the driven member, said driven -member, cranking member and intermediate member being rotatable about a common axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said crankshaft.'

obliquely of the axis of the intermediate member, an abutment positioned between the obliquely disposed edges of said split ring, said abutment thus constituting means for moving the intermediate member longitudinally into engagement with the driven member upon rotation of said split ring, said driven member, cranking member and intermediate member being rotatable about a common axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said crankshaft.-

3. I n an engine starting mechanism, an engine crank shaft, a driven member in engagement with the crank shaft, an intermediate member normally out of engagement with the driven member, a cranking member, a friction clutch between the intermediate member and cranking member, a one-way ratchet member spring-pressed into engagement with the cranking member, and means for engaging the intermediate member with the driven member upon rotation of the cranking= member and for disengaging the members when the driven member rotates at a greater speed A development of high tension current in said magneto for delivery to said sparker, and a switch for periodically rendering said first named switch ineffective, and common actuating means for said second named switch and magneto.

5. In an engine starting mechanism, an engine crank shaft, a booster magneto, common means for actuating said crank-shaft `and booster magneto, a switch actuated by the magneto for controlling the development of high tension current delivered to the engine, and anautomatic switch actuated by the engine crank shaft for grounding the magneto during a substantial portion of each revolution of the crank shaft to render said firstnamed switch ineffective during such portion of each revolution.

6. In an engine starting mechanism, a switch having arotatable contact arm, a magneto having a rotor and a primary winding in circuit with said switch, a common means Afor actuating the motor and switch comprising a cup-shaped driving member mounted adjacent said magneto, means engageable with the outer surface of said cup-J shaped member for positively driving said magneto rotor, and means engageable with the inner surface of said cup-shaped member for yieldably rotating said switch arm.

7. In an engine starting mechanism, a switch having a rotatable contact arm, a magneto having a rotor and an induction coil in circuit with said switch. common means for actuating the rotor and switch comprising a hollow driving member mounted adjacent said magneto, means engageable with the outer surface of said hollow member for positively driving said magneto rotor, means engageable with the inner surface of said hollow member for yieldably driving said switch arm, and means mounting said switch arm on the engine crankshaft for rotation therewith.

8. In an engine starting mechanism, a switch having a rotatable contact arm, a magneto having va rotor and/an induction coil in circuit with said switch, common means for actuating the rotor and switch comprising a hollow driving member mounted adjacent said magneto, means engageable with the outer surface of said hollow member for positively driving said magneto rotor, means engageable with the innersurface of said hollow member for yieldably driving said switch, means for causing said contact arm to accelerate to a speed in excess of the speed of said hollow member and means for automatically' disconnecting the drive from said hollow member to said switch when said accelerating means becomes eilective.A

.l 9. In adevice of the class described, an engine crankshaft, a magneto, a sparker, an electrical connection between said sparkerand magneto, a switch for controlling the development of high tension current in said magneto for delivery to said sparker, and a switch for periodically renvns dering said first-named switch ineffective, and common actuating means for said second named 

